Relative Values (play)

Relative Values is a three-act comedy by Noël Coward. A satire of snobbery in all its guises, it deals with the clash of cultures between Hollywood stars and the English aristocracy, and with "the ancient and inaccurate assumption that, as we are equal in the eyes of God, we should be equal in the eyes of our fellow creatures."

It was first produced in London in 1951 with success, enjoyed several revivals and was made into a film in 2000.

Coward had been entertaining the troops and the home front during World War II, and since Blithe Spirit in 1941 he had not written any comedies (other than musicals). It seemed, after the war, that his idiom of "gay insouciance" was out of fashion. Relative Values marked his return to comic playwriting. It also came as Coward was just beginning a new career, for it opened just a few days after his personal triumph in his first "cabaret" show at the Café de Paris.Relative Values was the first of several plays that achieved at least modest success, including South Sea Bubble (1951), Quadrille (1952) and Nude with Violin (1956), although they failed to match the popularity of his pre-war hits.

Relative Values opened at the Savoy Theatre on 28 November 1951, after a short provincial tour, and ran until 17 January 1953. The play, directed by the author, starred Gladys Cooper as Felicity, Judy Campbell as Miranda, and Angela Baddeley as Moxie.

Relative Values did not have a New York production until 1986, when it was staged by the small Equity Library Theater.Sarah Brightman played Miranda and Susan Hampshire played Felicity in a 1993 revival at the Savoy. A Coward centenary production was given at the Bournemouth Little Theatre in 1999 and one at the Theatre Royal Bath and Theatre Royal, Brighton in 2013 featured Patricia Hodge, Rory Bremner and Caroline Quentin. This production moved to the Harold Pinter Theatre, London, in April 2014.

...
Wikipedia